Posted by Dave Redmann on February 18, 2023 
SOU 4501 did not have an automatic stoker from its birth in 1911 until its most recent (ca. 2010-2014) rebuild. It was built for slower freight service, so for excursions featuring maintained speeds up to 45 mph or so, to generate enough steam, sometimes there were two fireman and a coal cutter. IIRC, amateur rail historian Mike Palmieri has posted about working as a coal cutter on 1970s - 1980s excursions out of New Orleans. For more info, see e.g. https://www.steamlocomotive.com/appliances/stoker.php.
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